


In Sickness and in Health (Even if You Think You're a Baby When You're Sick)

by gay_book_faerie_15



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: He's a good boyfriend, I listened to Savage Love by Jason Derulo until i finished this to self motivate. it was 7 hours, M/M, Not Beta Read, Post-Canon, Sickfic, Wholesome Angst, alex and henry, alex just hates being sick, firstprince, henry's trying his best, i was really in the mood for some wholesome angst guys, no beta solely because I'm insecure about my work before I post it, slight self destructive tendancies, theyre really cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24307993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gay_book_faerie_15/pseuds/gay_book_faerie_15
Summary: Alex thinks that he's the worst kind of sick person. In his eyes, he's needy and whiny, and he gets insane headaches. Sometimes he cries because his headaches just get that bad, but that’s for him to know. Thankfully, he rarely gets sick. Two years into officially living with Henry, Alex gets sick for the first time. Luckily, because he's not Alex, Henry doesn't think his boyfriend is any of those things.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, June Claremont-Diaz/Nora Holleran/Percy "Pez" Okonjo
Comments: 14
Kudos: 154





	In Sickness and in Health (Even if You Think You're a Baby When You're Sick)

**Author's Note:**

> So it's been forever since i posted, but i've been working on this one a little bit every day since literally the day after I posted the wedding fic (SIDE NOTE: the honeymoon fic aka part two IS coming it's just really difficult to write but it'll be worth the wait I promise!). It was 11 pages in Google Docs. I LOVED writing his one, and whenever I got writers block I came back to this one, so it's had a lot of editing. Wholesome angst is kind of my brand, so I didn't hold back on this one. I hope y'all love it.

HENRY  
Henry turned the key in the lock to the Brooklyn brownstone, and walked inside, dropping his suitcase and kicking off his shoes. Immediately, David was under his feet, barking happily.  
“Hello, David. Have you been taking care of Alex for me while I’ve been gone?” Henry asked, smiling as he rubbed behind David’s ears. “I’ll have to ask him myself,” Henry mused to himself, wandering further inside, about to call his boyfriend’s name when he sees him on the couch, asleep under a blanket, fast asleep. Henry smirked. These sort of naps only come after a week of quick naps between classes and papers, so he lets Alex sleep, going to the kitchen to start dinner.  
He quickly gave up on making anything, and ordered pizza from Alex’s favorite place. In the meantime, he knew that he really should wake Alex up, or he won’t sleep as well tonight. He crossed to the couch, and knelt down next to Alex, and brushed his hair from his eyes.  
“Alex, darling. Dinner will be here soon, you need to wake up, love,” he said, shaking Alex slightly. Alex’s eyes flew open, locking onto Henry, and he grinned.  
“You’re home!” he exclaimed, and Henry immediately noted that his voice sounded scratchy. Alex sat upright to hug him, but paused. “Whoa, there. Head rush. Okay, I’m good,” he said, launching into Henry’s arms. Henry pulled him close, burying his face into Alex’s neck. Two weeks will always be too long to leave home.  
“I missed you,” Henry sighed. The longer he was with Alex awake, the more he was noticing things. His voice, which was scratchy, his temperature, which was DEFINITELY warm, he was breathing more with his mouth, and he only knew that because he could hear it. Also, the head rush was abnormal.  
“I missed you too, baby,” Alex said, letting go and standing up. He swayed a little, but recovered and walked to the kitchen.  
“Are you feeling alright? Something seems… off,” Henry asked, following.  
“Who me? I’m fine, Hen. Just a lot of all-nighters catching up with me. Nothing that some sleep and some time with you won’t cure,” Alex shrugged. Henry accepted it, but decided to keep an eye on Alex for the rest of the night. 

ALEX  
Alex felt like shit. He wasn’t lying to Henry. Not exactly. He had pulled a few all-nighters in the past week, and overall he felt fine. But he was also starting to feel sick. He hated being sick, and thank god for everyone in his life that it only happened every few years.  
He knew he was the worst kind of sick person, whiny and needy. A lot of the time, he got headaches. Not quite migraines, but Alex has been known to cry when they get bad enough. Only June and Nora have seen that happen, sitting with him while he just tries to sleep through the headaches. And they can be assholes, but they know better than to tease Alex about that. And on top of that, Alex hadn’t been sick since the Royal Wedding, which means that Henry had never seen him sick. And he didn’t want to make it a thing, not unless it actually was, so he decided that he was going to just not say anything about it. If it was still bad tomorrow, he would tell Henry.  
“Alex? Are you with me?” Henry asked, slight concern visible on his face.  
“I am now. Sorry, I was in outer space for a minute. Thinking about the new case they have us studying,” Alex lied. He hated lying to Henry. But he really didn’t even want to put it out there that his being sick was even a remote possibility. Better to leave it unsaid than to risk anything.  
“Okay. You haven’t had anything to drink, and you’ve barely touched the pizza? Are you positive you’re alright?” Henry said. Alex knew that Henry knew something was up, but at this point his strategy was just ‘deny, deny, deny’.  
“Sweetheart. I’m fine, truly. I don’t know what’s up with me, but I think I’m just off. It’s been a really long week,” Alex said. Henry still didn’t look entirely convinced, but took another bite of his pizza. “Anyway, how was jolly old London? Bea and everyone?” he asked after a minute, setting Henry off on a story of his trip that lasted the rest of the meal.  
Several hours later, they were laying in bed, Henry half asleep, and Alex drowsily browsing Instagram. Henry finally gave into sleep, yawning, and leaning over to kiss Alex, he whispered,  
“Goodnight. I love you so much.”  
Alex smiled, kissing him back.  
“Welcome home, baby. I missed you so fucking much. I love you, too,” he murmured, setting down his phone, and curling up to face Henry, who threw an arm over him and cuddled close. He heard Henry’s steady breaths fairly quickly, and he was thankful for that, because he knew that Henry never slept well in London. Eventually, he dozed off as well.  
He woke up with a feeling he didn’t want to even acknowledge. His stomach churned, and he felt a very unfriendly and ugly sensation in his throat. He lay very still, barely daring to breath. He laid there for probably 3 minutes before realizing that whatever feeling this was, it was rising and it was not going back down.  
As carefully as he could muster, he climbed out of bed, and immediately knew he was not going to make it anywhere good in time. He stepped over the bathroom threshold and couldn’t hold it any longer. And Alex threw up on the bathroom floor. It was ugly, and Alex hated every goddamn second of it. He knew that his earlier attempts to not wake his boyfriend had failed, too, by the sound of stirring and then a string of curse words and footsteps.

HENRY  
Henry woke up to sounds of vomiting in the bathroom, and his singular thought was  
‘Well, fuck.’  
He’s sure some words like that slipped out of his mouth as he moved towards the bathroom.  
“Love?” he asked quietly. Alex was kneeled over on the floor, hand braced on the wall, head leaning on the wall by his hand.  
“I’m all good, Hen. Once I clean this up, I’ll be back in bed,” Alex said quickly, looking like he was about to get up.  
“Alex. You’re sick, baby. I know you don’t want to be. But you are. Come on. I’ll clean all this up, let’s get you back in bed. We can talk more tomorrow,” Henry said gently, kneeling down and pulling Alex towards him. He felt Alex deflate. “Whatever it is about being sick, it’ll be alright. Just rest. I’ve got you,” he soothes, stroking Alex’s curls. He doesn’t trust Alex’s legs at all right now, so he scoops him up and carries him back to bed. He set Alex down and moved to go back and clean up the bathroom, but Alex caught his wrist.  
“Stay?” he asked, and Henry heard the tiniest squeak in his voice.  
“I’ll be right back, darling. 5 minutes. You stay right here and get comfortable,” Henry said, kissing Alex’s fingers, and then was off for cleaning supplies.  
True to his word, Henry was done in 5 minutes. He’d done his share of cleaning up throw up, especially during his uni days. He walked back in, and Alex was facing away from him. Henry laid down and faced Alex, closing his eyes. Suddenly, Alex turned over, scaring the shit out of Henry. Alex laughed weakly, scooting closer and rested his head on Henry’s chest. Henry held him tightly, because first of all, he wanted to. But also, if Alex got up again, Henry would know because Alex would have to physically move him. Alex held onto his shirt like a lifeline, and Henry listened until his breathing evened out before he fell asleep, too.  
Through the night, they ended up sprawling all over the bed, so when Henry woke up, he was able to get up without waking Alex, and he went downstairs to let David out and make breakfast. 

ALEX  
Alex woke up to a general ache all over his body and a missing Henry. He was feeling fine other than being achy and still feeling a little queasy, so he decided to make his way downstairs to make breakfast. He assumed that Henry had gone into work today, so imagine his surprise when he saw said boyfriend in the kitchen scrambling eggs.  
“I thought you were going to work today!” he grinned. Henry jumped a little.  
“Good morning to you, too,” Henry chuckled, walking over to kiss his forehead before going back to the eggs. “What put you under the impression that I would be going into work today? I just got back from two weeks in London, plus after last night, I plan on hanging around here to take care of you. Pez is in town, he has the shelter well under control,” Henry said.  
“Oh fuck, Pez is in town?” Alex asked.  
“Mhmm. He’ll be here for a few weeks,” Henry told him. Alex opened his mouth to speak but Henry cut him off. “And he will come by when you’re better. I’ve already texted him.”  
“Henry, I’m--”  
“Alex. Do not try to bullshit me. We were both there last night. Clearly you’re sick, love. I’m not quite sure why you can’t just say that, but whatever the reason is, allow me to say it instead. You’re sick, ill, ailing, down, impaired, and infected. And you’re going to be okay. It just might take a few days,” Henry said, cutting him off again.  
“You don’t have to be such a thesaurus about it…” Alex grumbled. Henry laughed, plating the eggs.  
“Sometimes that’s the only way to get it through your thick, beautiful head. Now eat something, please.”  
So Alex ate. And then threw up again. Twice. So Henry sent him back up to bed, David following behind him, promising to follow once he cleaned up the dishes and sent out a few emails about their absences from work and school for the next 2 days at least.  
Alex sat in the room and worried. He hadn’t ever been sick with Henry, and for some reason, this was making him insecure. He felt like such a baby when he was sick, and he didn’t want to unload all of that on Henry. He was also worried he was going to get a headache. He knew he would, it was only a matter of when. So he picked up his book and tried to focus, but that didn’t  
do anything for him besides make him yawn, so he turned on the tv, set the volume to low, and pressed play on a random episode of ‘Friends’. Eventually, Henry joined him in bed and they cuddled and watched the show together.  
Alex dozed in and out for an hour or so, and then one time he woke up and his head was starting to hurt. Henry was out of the room, so he went to turn the light off, and the second he stood up, everything got hazy and the room spun. But he made it to the light switch and back, collapsing into bed, turning off the tv. He was glad he’d gotten that last little nap in, because his headache was getting worse by the second, and he wasn’t going to be able to sleep again for a long time.  
About an hour later, Henry found him lying in the same position he’d collapsed on the bed in. Head in the pillow, eyes squeezed shut, hand over his ear. It probably did look very concerning, but Alex was just trying to block out all the senses that fueled his headaches. Thankfully, there weren’t any strong scents in the room, so he wasn’t worrying about his nose.  
“Alex?” Henry asked. “Love, are you okay?”  
“I’ll be fine,” Alex said.  
“I didn’t ask if you would be fine. Right here, right now, are you okay? If the answer is no, which I think it is, just tell me. Please. You lying to me is more worrisome than anything,” Henry said, the volume of his voice lowering when Alex flinched at the sound.  
“Honestly, Hen, right now, I’m not good. I… I hate being sick so much, and I always get migraines. And I’ve been worrying about getting one since I started feeling congested yesterday morning, which likely forwarded the headache. I can’t sleep, I can’t open my eyes, I can’t listen to almost anything, and I can’t eat.”  
“I wish I had known this happened. Do June and Nora know anything about this?”  
“Mhmm. They’re the only ones who really know. Usually they leave me alone, but they sit with me sometimes. They’ve only happened in the past 7 years or so,” Alex said, so quietly that Henry had to lean in to hear him.  
“What can I do, darling?” Henry asked.  
“There’s not much. I’ll be okay for a while, but come sit with me later?” Alex asked. “I just… need a little while. I won’t sleep, but maybe my head will stop this dull throb.”  
“I hope it will. I’ll be in later, my love,” Henry said quietly, kissing Alex’s forehead gently before leaving. 

HENRY  
Henry couldn’t help it. He was worried about Alex. Even though he knew it had happened before, it still upset him that Alex had felt like dealing with this alone rather than disturb him. He couldn’t help himself from picking up the phone and calling June as he walked David.  
“Henry! How’s it going?” June asked as she picked up the phone.  
“Hello, June. I’m… fine, thanks. How are you?”  
“I’m really good. I’ve been getting a lot of good writing done today, so I’m in a good mood. You hesitated. What’s up?”  
“I hope I didn’t disturb you--”  
“You didn’t. Nora’s been distracting me for a little while anyways.”  
“Please do not go into details,” Henry said, laughing.  
“Nope. Those details are for us and Pez and I will leave it at that. You sound stressed. What’s wrong?”  
“Well, Alex is--”  
“What did my idiot baby brother do now?” June sighed.  
“What about Alex?” Nora’s voice came quieter through the phone.  
“I don’t know. Something idiotic. Henry is about to share the details with me. Aren’t you, Henry?” June asked.  
“Yes, dear, I am. Your beautiful brother, the love of my life, is sick, and he’s being a stubborn ass about it,” Henry sighed. June laughed.  
“Nora!” she yelped. “Alex is finally sick! Henry gets to deal with him now!”  
Henry heard a scream of laughter and cheers before June turned her attention back to him.  
“What the hell do I do?” Henry asked.  
“Well that depends? What’s happened so far?”  
“Well I got home last night and he sounded congested and he didn’t eat. He said he was fine, and we went to bed. Then in the middle of the night he threw up on the bathroom floor, and again insisted he was fine. I made him go to bed. This morning he ate eggs and had some orange juice. I wouldn’t let him have coffee. And he threw up again twice before I sent him to bed. I just walked in and he said his head hurt, and I finally got him to admit he felt awful,” Henry told June.  
“Shit. A headache?” June immediately sobered. “Good luck with that. Alex thinks he is the biggest burden when he’s sick to begin with, but these headaches make him feel utterly helpless. Nora and I used to have to take turns to sit with him once it got really bad, hold his hand, give him water, just keep him from stressing. The first time it happened, we had no idea what to do when he started crying. Which he does when he gets these. Long explanation short, it’s a migraine, so the pain gets really intense. He gets miniature ones pretty often, but the severe ones are long and nasty. You can’t do much but hope he’s openly communicating with you to the best of his ability and be with him,” June explained.  
“I hate seeing him this way already and it’s just started. How long do the headaches last?”  
“The last one I was with him for, which I guess is the last one he had, lasted almost 2 days. It’s not super bad the whole time. The worst of it usually only lasts about 7 hours, but he’s miserable the whole time. Just love him. Be there for him. It’s all he needs right now. It’s been 3 years, Henry. You’re the best person in the world at that. You’re good at that.”  
“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” Henry sighed, stopping in front of the brownstone. “I’ll let you get back to your distraction now. I’ve been walking David, but I’m home now, so I should probably check on him.”  
“You’re right, you should. Let either of us know if you need any more help. And tell our boyfriend we say hi when you see him?” June asked.  
“I will do that. Thank you, June. And Nora, of course. Goodbye,” Henry said, ending the call and walking inside. He slid his shoes off and let David off of his leash, walking up the stairs to his and Alex’s room. He opened the door and tapped his fingers on the desk, quietly alerting Alex he was back.  
“Hey, baby.” Alex said quietly.  
“Hi, love. How’s your head?” he asked.  
“Not good,” Alex sighed, hand still over his ear.  
“How’s the rest of you?”  
“Better, actually. Most times once this kicks in, everything else wrong with me is fine.”  
“At least you’ve got that.” Henry paused for a second. “Do you need anything?”  
“I’m okay for now. Thank you,” Alex sighed.  
“Okay… I’ll be up in a while. Should I bring food?” Henry asked.  
“If you want. But I’m not really hungry. I just wanna lay here.”  
“That’s fine, darling. I’ll be back very soon. I love you.” Henry said. As much as he wanted to stay, he could tell Alex wanted to be alone, and he would know when he needed him.  
“I love you, too,” Alex told him, using his free hand to pull Henry down for a quick kiss. He was walking to the kitchen when he got caught up in a call from Pez, asking how Alex was. While he was on the phone, he put together a tray of water, some congestion medicine, and some fruit and soup for both himself and Alex. He let it sit on the counter while he finished up talking to Pez. A little catching up, a little shelter business. Once the call ended, he brought the tray up to Alex, who was of course still awake, but apparently he had gotten up to close the blinds. He was back in bed now, laying on his other side, facing the middle of the bed now. He looked more tense, and Henry found himself ready for the next 7-10 hours to be sitting here.  
“Alex?” Henry asked.  
“Hey—“ Alex said, before cutting himself off. “Sorry. My head is just—“ he stopped again. Henry set the tray on his bedside table and sat down next to Alex.  
“It’s okay. Come here,” Henry said gently, helping Alex sit up and scoot over to him. Alex laid his head on Henry’s shoulder, and hugged him around the waist.  
“Will you stay? It’s okay if you… if you can’t but I—“  
“Love, I will stay right here as long as you need me to. I just want you to be okay,” Henry promised. Alex only nodded, and they settled into their comfortable silence, Henry holding Alex on his lap, where Alex seemed less tense than before, but definitely tenser than Henry liked.

ALEX  
Alex was, in one word, miserable. It had been so long since his last migraine that he had almost forgotten what it was like. It was a throb in his temples, behind his eyes, and in his forehead itself. It was constant, and deep breaths only did so much. He hadn’t done anything different these past few days to warrant anything like this. So why now? Why ever? It didn’t help that he really wanted to cry. He knew it was Henry, and that he could do that, if that’s what he needed. It just always made his headache worse because it was just a lot every time he cried. He would lose steady breathing, his face would constrict, his eyes would scrunch up, and of course he would lose fluid. He also had a tendency, he and Henry had discovered, to pull on his hair when he cried. That wouldn’t help anything. In fact, it would without a doubt make things worse.  
“Alex…” Henry whispered after a little while. “You need to drink some water. A little?”  
“Hen, I… this might not be a good idea,” Alex said quietly.  
“Please? Just a sip. If you don’t feel good after, you don’t have to have anymore til you’re ready again.”  
“Okay,” Alex sighed, wincing as his head throbbed as he lifted it towards the light. He tried to keep his eyes closed, but to get the water to his mouth, he had to open them, and suddenly the throbbing became even worse and more insistent, even with the lights in their room turned off. He sipped a little and then closed his eyes again immediately. His head connected just a little too hard, which was anything more than feather light, with Henry’s collarbone, and he felt his breath hitch and felt a tear roll down his cheek against his will. Then another, and another, and then he was full-on crying. Fuck. This wasn’t going anywhere good.  
But Henry was there, holding his hands down with one hand, his other arm wrapped around Alex, just holding him as close as he could. Meanwhile, the pain wasn’t getting worse, but he sure could feel it more with all this going on.  
“It’s going to be fine. You’re okay,” he said gently. “You’ve been doing so well, Alex. Honestly, you have. It’s all going to be over soon.”  
“How do you know?” Alex asked, trying to regain his breathing. Logically, he knew that was a stupid and childish thing to say to the man he was dating, but he really couldn’t give less of a damn if he tried.  
“Because all pain is temporary. And migraines physically cannot last in the brain for more than a few days. You’re going to get through this fine, Alex. I’ll be here the entire time,” Henry reassured him.  
“Promise?” Alex asked, feeling more and more like a 6 year old by the minute.  
“I promise. Here, let’s lay down, all right? Maybe that’ll do something. If you feel worse, we can sit back up.” Henry suggested. Alex nodded, finally having calmed himself most of the way down, minus some tears that were slowing. They slowly maneuvered into a horizontal position where Alex was resting his head on Henry’s chest.  
At some point Henry started messing with his hair, and kind of massaging his scalp… and it was helping? Around the time that Alex realized this, Henry stopped.  
“That’s probably hurting your head. I’m sorry--”  
“Actually, would you mind not stopping? It’s actually making it a little more bearable?” Alex asked.  
“Of course,” Henry said, and Alex swore he could hear the small smile in his voice before he started again.  
Henry sat him up after a few hours and made him sip some more water and eat a strawberry before going to take a quick shower. In the time he was gone, Alex found himself starting in what were the worst hours, the apex, of the migraine. He writhed around until he found himself in the most comfortable position at the moment: lying almost face down into 3 pillows, one hand under the pillows. He also made the conclusion he did NOT want to be touched by anybody. Even Henry. So when Henry walked out of the bathroom, looking soft and like home, Alex felt like shit for saying,  
“Would you mind just… not touching me for a little while? It’s at the really nasty part right now,” he said, hoping he sounded as apologetic as he was.  
“Of course, love. Just let me know if you need me again. Would it bother you if I turned on my small reading light?” Henry asked. Alex shook his head, another wave of pounding hitting him.  
“Actually, Hen?” Alex asked.  
“Yes?”  
“Would you just… hold my hand?”  
“Yes, darling. Of course,” Henry said quietly, slipping their hands together, and they went back into silence, save for Henry’s book pages turning. Eventually, though, even that sound stopped, and Henry gently kissed his hand before falling asleep, hand still holding tight to Alex’s and snoring, which he would never admit he did, but Alex loved it. Except for right now. Right now it was very annoying and very painful. He did his best to block out the sound with another pillow, curling his knees under his chest. It was going to be a very long night. 

HENRY  
Henry pried his eyes open as the sun peeked through the blinds in their room. Alex was gone, which was an exceptionally large worry for him to have after five whole seconds of being awake.  
“Alex?” he called. He listened for a response, and heard a knock from the bathroom. If Alex was hurt he was going to lose his mind. He walked into the bathroom, and there was Alex, sitting in the bath, eyes closed and lights out. “Hi, love.”  
“Hey, sweetheart. How’d you sleep?” Alex asked.  
“I slept fine. How long have you been in the tub?”  
“Oh… what time is it now?”  
“8 in the morning, Alexander.”  
“4 hours.” Alex responded promptly.  
“Oh Alex. Come on, let’s get you out. You’ve been in here for far too long, and you’ve been awake for so long,” Henry sighed. Alex just nodded compliantly, and Henry went to get him a clean pair of underwear and sweatpants, bringing them back into the bathroom, grabbing Alex’s towel on his way back to him.  
“I had to do something all night, didn’t I? It’s not like I’ve been sleeping,” Alex mumbled. Henry snorted a little, and he helped Alex stand up and step out of the bath, draining it and wrapping a towel around him. Alex leaned his head on Henry’s shoulder while he dried himself off and put on his clothes.  
“Can you… walk?” Henry asked.  
“Yeah, just… give me a minute?” Alex requested. A minute turned into about five before Alex could muster the walk from the bathroom to the bed. Once Henry was sure he was in bed and as comfortable as he was going to get, he went downstairs for a while.  
He gave himself enough time to give David a quick walk, eat some breakfast, and have a quick call with Pez about the meeting he was missing at the shelter today. He got more water and some fruit for Alex before declaring himself done for the day, and traipsing back up the stairs to tend to Alex, David behind him. He’d been kept out of the room last night, so he was missing the boys. When they walked in, David immediately jumped on the bed, and Alex rolled over, smiling a little and letting him lick his face.  
“Hey, bub. I’ve missed you, too. I’m sorry it’s been so long. But I’ll be back soon,” Alex whispered, petting David’s ears as he laid down next to Alex.  
“Now that you’re out of the bath,” Henry paused as Alex smirked a little, eyes squinting at the light in the room. “Good morning, darling.”  
“Good morning. I’m glad to hear you slept well,” Alex said. Henry laid down on the bed next to him and Alex rolled over slowly and laid his head back on his shoulder.  
“How’s your head this morning?” Henry asked. Alex’s breath shuddered a little bit.  
“It’s… really bad, Hen. Like, really really bad,” Alex’s voice cracked on the second ‘really’. Henry pulled him closer still, because he didn’t really know what else to do. Although no one really did.  
“I’m so sorry, love. I hate that you have to go through this. I wish I could help. Is there anything I can do?” Henry asked.  
“I mean, you being here, is pretty nice. I really like that. Before, Nora and June would just sit with me, but it felt awkward and I felt bad because I knew that they were cancelling plans for me and neither of them really wanted to be sitting there with me. But I know you can just make up work. Pez being in town helps a lot. I know you want to be here,” Alex said quietly.  
“You’re right. I do. I really love you, you know that. I don’t want to leave you alone for this. I couldn’t. Even though I know you could handle it, I didn’t want you to have to.”  
“I love you, too. And I can’t thank you enough for not leaving me alone,” Alex said, smiling. “But…” he drew out the word. Henry knew what was coming. “How would you feel about a little private concert for your boyfriend, hmm?” he asked.  
“You’re lucky I love you,” Henry said, smiling. “Any requests?”  
“Your Song,” Alex said without hesitation. “Anything else you want after.”  
“Here goes  
So Henry hummed and sang his way softly through every Elton John song he knew, because it was Alex’s favorite thing for him to hum. He was going back to the beginning, to Your Song, when he heard the snores. Alex’s snores. Wait-- Alex was asleep. Which meant that this was almost over. Thank god. He let him lay there on him for well over an hour before he eased him onto the bed and went downstairs, taking David with him. 

ALEX  
Alex woke up alone in bed, near dark, and felt almost good as new. He could have sworn Henry was here when he woke up. But he also knew he had a migraine. Was this whole thing some sort of fever dream and he was just living in New York for law school? He honestly had no idea, so he went downstairs. He saw Henry in the kitchen, wearing the horrendous rainbow apron Pez got him, and he laughed. It was real, which meant he was back to being the happiest man ever.  
Henry looked up at him, did a double take, and then blinked a few times.  
“So… I hope this means you’re feeling better?” Henry asked skeptically, walking over to Alex slowly.  
“Much. Thank you for singing. I thought that it would put me to sleep. That’s why I asked.”  
“You could have--”  
“Told you? No, because if I hadn’t fallen asleep you would have beat yourself up for it. I do know you. I feel like somehow you forget I was obsessed with you for years before all this started. And now it’s been almost 3 years,” Alex grinned, kissing his boyfriend for the first time in almost 2 days.  
“Actually, I didn’t forget, but please tell me again how you used to sneak into June’s room to stare at a photo of me when you were thirteen? Because I really do love to hear about it.”  
“Of course you do, you narcissistic fuck,” Alex said, the sound muffled from burying his face in his hands. Henry laughed loudly, taking Alex’s hands from his face and kissing him again. Just because he could. Then he went back to making dinner, leaving Alex standing in the door like an idiot. Which, he thought to himself, he really was. But he was a lucky idiot.  
They ate dinner and Henry talked some about his book, which was due to be released in the next few months. Alex had read the final copy, and he was maybe more excited for the release than Henry. It was his new favorite book, and not only because he loved the author(in more ways than one). It was just an incredible book and he couldn’t wait for June and Nora to read it and be able to talk about it with their whole group. He was so proud of Henry, he thought. He really was.  
“Hello? Earth to Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz?” Henry said slowly, waving his friends in front of Alex’s face. “Alright, there, love?”  
“Perfectly fine. Just thinking about how proud of you I am. And how much I love you,” Alex nodded. Henry smiled, not the usual closed-mouth smile he gave or the smile when he was laughing. Just his smile, the crooked one that Alex would never be able to get over.  
They finished dinner, and then Henry suggested they watch a movie, since they were gearing back up for another busy week after tomorrow. Sunday nights were usually an early-to-bed deal, because they both held grudges against Monday mornings and needed all the head start they could get, so Saturday nights they would stay up late and relax and enjoy each other’s company. It took them what felt like hours, but they finally decided on a movie, and cuddled up on the couch with David as the opening credits played.  
“Hey,” Alex whispered. Henry looked down to where Alex’s head was on his shoulder. “I just-- thank you. For the past few days. I know it wasn’t the most fun, and I know you’re probably behind with work now. But I’m really glad you were there. I don’t know if I could have handled this one alone. It was probably the worst one yet, and I’m just really happy you were there. So yeah. Thank you.”  
“Don’t worry about the shelter. It was in great hands. And no, of course the past few days weren’t fun. But I would have felt worse leaving you home alone than I feel now, knowing I have some work to make up, but you’re okay,” Henry told him. “Now hush. The movie’s starting.” Alex rolled his eyes and smirked. He reached up and kissed Henry’s cheek, just as Henry yawned. Alex sat up, and let Henry rest his head on his shoulder instead.  
As the credits rolled, Alex noticed Henry was fast asleep. He could carry him up to bed, but he liked it down here. So he turned off the lamp and curled his legs up under him, falling asleep on Henry’s shoulder.


End file.
